By T.S. Akers
(originally published in the November 2011 issue of Knight Templar magazine)
(originally published in the November 2011 issue of Knight Templar magazine)
Many Masonic Bodies across the United States have come into
possession of various treasures over the years.
These can range from simple minute books from bygone eras that bear the
signatures of important men of the times to more awe inspiring items. For example, Norman Masonic Lodge No. 38 AF&AM
proudly displays a tyler’s
register from 1899 bearing the signature of James S. Buchanan who was the fourth
President of the University
of Oklahoma.[1] It is in the antechamber of Lawton Commandery
No. 18 in Lawton, Oklahoma that a truly great Templar treasure
can be found.
Old cannoneers will know the city of Lawton as being
adjacent to Fort Sill which was constructed in 1869 by elements of the 10th
US Cavalry and the 6th US Infantry.
Eventually the School
of Fire was established
at Fort Sill in 1911.[2] Fort
Sill and the military in
general have long had a connection with the Fraternity in Oklahoma.
In December of 1917, over two-hundred soldiers from Camp Doniphan
at Ft. Sill were given passes to journey to
Guthrie for a special Scottish Rite reunion; it was the first time Oklahoma
Consistory No. 1 conferred all 29 degrees and with a class composed entirely of
servicemen. Due to the number of
soldiers interested in being made 32° Masons, the post commander issued an
order limiting the number of passes that could be issued at any one time. With this restriction on the number of troops
that could leave the post, the Guthrie Scottish Rite Bodies erected a Masonic
“club house” on site for the purpose of communicating the degrees on
soldiers. Even Harry S. Truman, then a
Lieutenant, is on record as having visited the Guthrie Scottish Rite Valley
during this time.[3] In addition to this Masonic activity, the
Fort Sill Masonic Club long had a presence on the post and could count men such
a Brigadier General Dwight E. Aultman, a former post commander, among its
members.[4]
General Aultman certainly was not the only general officer
associated with the Masonic Fraternity in Oklahoma though. Throughout its history a number of generals
of the Oklahoma National Guard have been Masons. General Ewell L. Head of Muskogee served with
the National Guard prior to WWII and was an active member of both the Bedouin
Shrine and the Knights Templar.[5] General Hal L. Muldrow of Norman, the son of
the first Grand Master of the State of Oklahoma, was a member of the McAlester Scottish
Rite Valley. Generals William S. Key of
Seminole and Frederick A. Daugherty of Oklahoma City both held the post of
Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Scottish Rite in Oklahoma.[6]
It was in the late 1940s that an artillery officer stationed
at Fort Sill, Major Ralph L. Paddock Jr., presented a special gift to the Sir
Knights of Lawton.[7] As one enters the asylum they will notice a
large shadow box hanging in the antechamber that contains what appears to be a
rather non-descript sword of Nebraska
regulation, some letters, a photo, and two brass plaques. Upon closer inspection the curious will find
that this particular sword bears the name of one of this Nation’s great
military heroes, General John J. Pershing.
It is only fitting that such a memento would be deposited in a locale
steeped in Military History.
Knight Templar Sword of John J. Pershing
(Courtesy of T.S. Akers)
(Courtesy of T.S. Akers)
Pershing was born in Missouri in 1860 and had the privilege
of growing up in an era of some of America’s greatest generals.[8] He graduated from the United States Military
Academy in 1886, where
his classmates recognized that he possessed a rare quality of leadership. Upon graduation, Pershing was assigned to the
6th US Cavalry and sent to Fort
Bayard, NM. In 1891 he reported to the University of Nebraska
to serve as Professor of Military Science and Tactics.[9] Pershing had previously taken the degrees of
Freemasonry in December of 1888 in Lincoln Lodge No. 19 of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was while posted at the University of Nebraska
that he was exalted in Lincoln Chapter No. 6 on March 28, 1894 and was dubbed and created a
Knight of the Temple
on Dec. 3, 1894
in Mt. Moriah Commandery No. 4.[10]
After serving in Cuba in 1898, Pershing left for Manilla to
fight the Moros. It was while in Cuba
that Lieutenant Pershing earned a Silver Citation Star for his Spanish Campaign
Medal, the Silver Star Medal was not yet in existence. For his service in the Philippines, then Captain Pershing
was recommended for promotion to Brigadier General.[11] The system of awards and decorations in the
military was still in its infancy and brevet promotions for outstanding service
where still very much a part of the American military.[12] His military career also brought Pershing to Oklahoma City for a short
time as Assistant Chief of Staff of the Southwest Division in 1904. Pershing would go on to serve as Commander of
the American Expeditionary Force in WWI and Army Chief of Staff in 1921. He even visited Oklahoma members of the newly formed 45th
Infantry Division at Camp
Wolf adjacent to Fort Sill
shortly before his retirement.[13] Pershing held the rank of General of the
Armies when he retired in 1924, thus making him the only person to be bestowed
that rank while living.[14]
General of the Armies John J. Pershing
One never knows what may await them in the archives of the
various Masonic Bodies across the land, some truly contain hidden
treasures. Even if that stack of papers
in the back room does not yield up that rare signature or those rusty old
swords in the armory do not bear a notable name, the fellowship is always well
worth the distance traveled and a treasure unto itself
[1] Norman Lodge No. 5 AF&AM, Tyler’s
Register, 1898 – 1901, Private Collection, Norman Lodge No. 38, Norman, Oklahoma.
[2] "Fort Sill,"
Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,
<http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/f/fo038.html>,
Accessed 6 April 2011.
[3] The Oklahoma
Consistory (January 1918), Vol. 3, No. 1.
[4] Fort
Sill Masonic Club, Memorial
Plaque, Post Chapel, Fort Sill,
Oklahoma.
[5] Ewell Lewis Head, Photos, 1897 – 1936,
Private Collection, David Greenshields, Stillwater,
Oklahoma.
[6] Robert G. Davis and James T. Tresner II, Indians,
Cowboys, Cornerstones, and Charities: A
Centennial Celebration of Freemasonry in Oklahoma
(Guthrie: The Most Worshipful Grand
Lodge of the State of Oklahoma
Library and Museum, 2009), 156 – 161.
[7] Department of the Army, Official Army Register: January 1951 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1951), Vol.
1: 514.
[8] William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons (Richmond:
Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 1957), Vol. 3: 331.
[9] “John Joseph Pershing, General of the
Armies,” Arlington National Cemetery Website, <http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/johnjose.htm>,
Accessed 6 April 2011.
[10] Denslow, 331.
[11] “John Joseph Pershing, General of the
Armies.”
[12] William W. Savage, Jr., Class Lecture Notes,
US Military History to 1902, University of Oklahoma, Fall, 2005.
[13] Larry Johnson, Historic Photos of Oklahoma (Nashville: Turner Publishing Co., 2009), 105.
[14] “John Joseph Pershing, General of the
Armies.”
